I bought one of the Alden Wrenches with hope that it would do the trick in removing the manifolds from my 1980 Spitfire. The cooling channel of the intake manifold prevents getting a wrench on the inner stud nuts from below.
The wrench is quite nice and seems to perform as advertised. However, the angle of attack is still too extreme to get to the nuts from above, between the 2nd and 3rd intake ports in the middle. Removing both of the upper middle studs may create enough clearance to get an open-end wrench like the Alden Wrench on the nuts. Has anyone ever tried this approach? Anyone have any other ideas? All ideas are appreciated - I hope I do not have to bend this Alden Wrench to make an offset wrench. I did discover in the process of prepping for this manifold gasket removal project that the exhaust flange gasket is leaking too (thanks to all for earlier posts regarding the gasket). After loosening the nuts attaching the exhaust manifold to the catalytic converter, leaving them finger tight, I started the engine to test the effect of a bad joint. No question - the lack of back pressure creates major power loss. The engine will not even stay running unless I run it in the 3K range and pulse the gas. Fun fun! Cheers, Ron Deaver Seattle, WA 1980 Russet Brown Spitfire (TFVDW6AT006878 - FM135124UCE) -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of James Carruthers Sent: Monday, February 17, 2003 9:04 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Open-End Ratchet for manifold nuts Those nuts are surprisingly easy once you get the hang of them, just don't try and do it the conventional way from below. Either use your spanner 90 degrees on... with a screwdriver through the closed end... Or, as I saw the guy I got my engine from did, use a small socket (1/4 inch - I got one for christmas but havent tried it yet) with a wobble bar - he had an air rathet and they were off in seconds. James chip kigar said: > I saw this item at a woodworking show. I didn't bite (budgetary > reasons) but I wonder if it's just the thing for those pesky exhaust > manifold nuts. > > http://www.aldenwrench.net "Interactive Open-End Ratchet with only 30 > degrees 'swing angle'" /// [EMAIL PROTECTED] mailing list /// Send admin requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] /// or try http://www.team.net/cgi-bin/majorcool /// Archives at http://www.team.net/archive /// Send list postings to [EMAIL PROTECTED] /// Edit your replies! If they include this trailer, they will NOT be sent.
